


As I'm Howling At The Moonlight

by Kate_Reid



Series: Never Be Your Curse [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 16:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19276966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kate_Reid/pseuds/Kate_Reid
Summary: Our heroes get ready for a night out.





	As I'm Howling At The Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

  * For [situation_normal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/situation_normal/gifts), [Flawless_Sorcerer_Supreme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flawless_Sorcerer_Supreme/gifts).



> This is for my dearest situation_normal, who deserves everything good and nice in the world. I am always, always, always rooting for you, my dear. 
> 
> This is also for flawless_sorcerer_supreme, who's always there with a pep talk. 
> 
> This is also for everyone who took some time to say something nice about this little series and was sweet enough to rec it--that was quite unexpected and made me super-happy. Your kindness means more to me than you know. I've long resigned myself to throwing my fic out into the void. You cannot imagine how thrilled I was when the void spoke back to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Facebook Reylos. 💙

As he cleaned up after close, picking up stray glasses and setting them in the dishwasher racks, Kylo came upon a single champagne flute at one of the high-top tables.  Unbidden, his mind drifted to Rey, his Subway Princess. He’d really been hoping she’d come in. At the same time, he wasn’t sure he’d have wanted her to show up and get lost in the crush of happy hour.  He could tell she was somewhat reserved; he couldn’t quite fit her neat, practical presence in among the obnoxious yuppies and finance bros Snoke’s happy hour tended to attract.

More than that, he didn’t want to have to squeeze time with her in between rudely shouted drink orders.  No, he had way too much to deal with during happy hour--keeping a watchful eye on who had had too much, who was trying to skip out on a tab, and the hated finger-snappers who hoped to summon him like he was no more than a disobedient dog.  Kylo’s title as head bartender really meant that he was a cop, a babysitter, and a fucking butler all rolled into one.

He really, _really_  didn’t want to acknowledge this as his natural habitat, so it stood to reason that he’d be reluctant to have Rey encounter him here.  

That reason, though, prompted reflection, which was really not ever a thing Kylo wanted these days.  He simply didn’t want to think about things. He didn’t want to think that his usual environment wasn’t actually one where he was alone with his paints and easel.  That was where he wanted to be. All he wanted to know was his canvas and the decisions of color and expression that he made when he stood before it. 

 

*******

 

The next few days passed in a blur as Rey threw herself into her work, arriving at the office earlier than normal, then walking out late with Larma.  

Her rendering for the presentation moved along smoothly, buoyed by her excitement. She checked in with her bosses frequently to make sure her work was in line with what was expected.  Rey was understandably nervous; she’d never before been responsible for such a high-profile project. Both Amilyn and Larma assured her that the Mayor and committee would be suitably impressed. 

By Thursday, Rey had put the final touches on her CAD work and presented her finished product to all her coworkers at a surprise all-hands meeting.  She accepted the applause with a pleased blush and a proud smile. 

As Rey left her office at a normal hour for once, she made sure to say goodbye to Larma, who was still working away in her own office.  Rey felt light and free and happy. 

And then she got the message.  Tomorrow. Finn and Rose, and Poe, too, would all be home tomorrow.  They’d apparently been trying to coordinate this for ages. Her friends had conspired to surprise her, because they’d all been fretting over the loneliness she’d taken pains not to make clear in the happy emails she sent them several times a week. 

She gave her phone’s screen a slightly watery smile as she sent her reply. 

She knew that Finn and Rose were together, of course.  They had been since before she’d met Finn, if one could call tripping over someone meeting them.  Rey met Finn in the Student Union at Coruscant U, hurrying between her classes at the same time he hurried between his.  Their meeting was made rather memorable by the packet of trail mix she’d spilled in the incident and had given rise to their mutual nickname of “Peanut,” after the morsel she’d grabbed off his lapel and eaten right away.

Finn was a former Army medic who was using his GI Bill money to go to medical school.  Rose was his girlfriend and a med school classmate, already a trained nurse and eager to advance her education.

Poe, an Air Force pilot, had been thrust into their tiny circle by Finn.  Rey gathered that Finn had met Poe at an on-campus veterans’ group meeting.  She didn’t ask much beyond that, but she could tell that Poe and Finn had a connection that ran deep, perhaps even deeper than either would tell her.  Rey wouldn’t pry; they’d tell her when they needed to.

For quite some time, Poe had been enthusing about a woman he called Kay.  She was an air traffic controller, and Rey remembered chuckling over that--of _course_  an air traffic controller would be the one who could keep Poe in check.  

So!  Finn and Rose and Poe and his new girlfriend Kay would all be in town  to see her Friday night! Rey would be fine! Fine!

 

*******

 

Kylo didn’t want to get ready.  The shiny bondage pants weren’t that comfortable, even though he cheated and wore them with boxer briefs.  Nobody would see the line from up where he was going to be, anyway. And the harness was a hell of a thing to get onto himself without assistance.  But he did it, finally, then surveyed himself in the mirror. The pants made his butt and legs look good, so good. The straps crossing his chest accentuated his muscles, complemented by the tiny bit of oil that Snoke demanded and for which Kylo hated himself.  

But it surely wasn’t wrong to shine a little, was it?  

 

*******

 

Rey felt monumentally stupid, standing alone in her bedroom with half the contents of her closet strewn all about.  She just wanted to look _right_ , not _stunning_  or _distinctive_  or anything outlandish like that. No, she just wanted to appear normal.

Clothes were hard.  

She’d always been able to dress functionally.  

Stretchy, comfortable clothes were for exercise.  That was easy. It wasn’t difficult to choose clothes she could move easily in--tops and pants made of material designed for efficiency, fabrics that would wick away her sweat, keep her cool, diffuse her expended energy by exuding her heat into the atmosphere.

She’d even been able to find workout clothes with patterns she liked! She knew the space print leggings were silly and dubiously accurate, but she’d smiled when she came upon them in the store.

Work clothes were something else, a whole different minefield.  Her father--dear, kind Bail--had tried to buy her clothes with fancy labels whose names Rey remembered classmates repeating with an awe she couldn’t understand.  

Sometimes, she wished she’d paid more attention.  But she’d managed to look up enough online to be presentable at her office.  Whatever she found at the Ann Taylor outlet seemed to be okay. Neither Amilyn nor Larma had ever remarked on her attire.  She felt sure that her kind bosses would take her aside if there was ever a problem with her appearance. 

So she’d figured out her workout clothes and her office apparel, but she was still wildly unsure what to wear to “go out.”

But then she remembered it--slippery and deep green and a little sparkly--the thing Rose had sweetly bullied her into buying off the clearance rack.  Rose had insisted that Rey needed a “Friday-night top,” whatever the hell that was.

Rey had decided not to resist.  Her pocket was full of her Holdo, D’Acy signing bonus, the top was on sale, and Rose had wolf-whistled when Rey walked out of the dressing room.  

Once Rey got home, though, it had been relegated to the back of a drawer and promptly forgotten for months.  There was a strap where Rey didn’t feel like one was really necessary, but this seemed to be making up for the place where she felt there probably _should_  be a strap, but there wasn’t.  But what did she know? Dammit, Jim, she was an architect, not a fashion designer. It didn’t look awful when she surveyed herself in the mirror. It was possible that Rose could have been right about the top.

Maybe tonight was just the time for its debut.  Surely, it was okay to shine just a little?

 

*******

 

Kylo pounded hard three times on the First Order’s back door-- _bang bang bang_.

He’d just prepared for another round of bangs when the door was opened by Dopheld Mitaka, who looked suitably flustered and worried by Kylo’s still-raised fist.

Kylo rolled his eyes at Mitaka’s stammering, even as he felt slightly bad for frightening the jumpy little man, who promptly disappeared.  Conversely, Kylo felt no such remorse when he bumped into Armitage Hux on his way through the narrow corridors. He took pleasure in Hux’s slight flinch at his snarl.  He actually enjoyed frightening Hux, looming and glaring for a moment. The redhead’s poorly-masked discomfiture was a reward in itself.

While he might make token attempts at civilized behavior in his regular job at Snoke’s, all bets were off here at First Order.  

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Come say hi!](https://linktr.ee/stainlessstyled)


End file.
